Against Public Speaking

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At Fun Social Nihilism, we have no speeches to give, nor are there any speeches to be forced to listen to. Other humans, evidently, like “speeches,” like to walk and march in designated pre-arranged government-approved routes to hear these special forms of human communication, the speech, with its peculiar rhythms of call-and-call, call-and-response, endless waiting, subservient gaze to the lone focus of the microphone-hogger, and various other cranial gyrations of the penitent acolyte.

How does this all play out for the assembled listener? What psycho-state of enraptured arousal will eventuate in the crowd-filling nobody? There must be some kinds of non-verbal gratification at these speeches , or no one would go to another. Possible mental ecstasies from the attendees must include: 1)I’m with my people, and aren’t we great! 2). Our hero is greater than good! 3) I’m going to leave this performance and become just like the mic-shouter!

Fun Social Nihilism arrived as a worldwide phenomenon after the 60s heyday of Vietnam Era speech performance, which must have been a gas for many early -stage boomers. Since that grand re-awakening of the circus performer on the political stage, though, there have been no speeches, since there has been no politics. Neither have any literary wunderkinder given anything approaching a worthwhile speech, since they cannot overcome the barrier of the competing glut of easily-clicked into- and clicked-out- web images. Nobody in any forum, from celebrity to family, has delivered a speech that was better than its absence. Whatever has needed to be said, for our age, has been said in a paragraph or two, and then walked away from.

Do not give a speech. Do not drive, walk, ride, or fly to listen to a speaker as part of a crowd or audience. Do not listen to extended sermons, extended award acceptances, or some fool trolling against “snowflakes” or “liberal fascists.” Learn to reject those seeking to impose their authoritarian or authoritative or authorial visions and images upon you at length. That way, you’ll have all the time in the world for better causes and projects, like staying upright with some degree of sanity.

And that’s all the free, and freely-given advice any star-traveler should ever need, the rest of the way, as the human-maintained planet hurtles into ever-deeper meteor-strewn oblivion.